Wanda Landowska

Wanda Landowska was a musician who changed how we hear old music. She was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1879.

Her parents were a lawyer and a linguist. Wanda started playing the piano when she was only four years old. People called her a child prodigy because she was so talented. Later, she made a big choice to play the harpsichord. This is a keyboard instrument with strings inside. Many friends thought she should stay a piano player. However, Wanda wanted to bring the harpsichord back into popularity.

Playing the harpsichord was a special way for Wanda to share music. She used large instruments like the Pleyel Grand Modèle de Concert. These were huge, heavy instruments that were seven and a half feet long. They even had foot pedals to change the sound. Wanda traveled to many museums to look at old instruments. She studied how they were made and how they sounded. Then, she asked the Pleyel company to make new ones for her. This helped her play music exactly how it was meant to be heard. She even played Bach's Goldberg Variations on the harpsichord in 1933.

Landowska's life moved through many different countries. She studied music in Warsaw, Berlin, and Paris. She married a man named Henry Lew in 1900. After that, she taught piano at the Schola Cantorum in Paris. She also taught harpsichord at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik from 1912 to 1919. In 1923, she made her first big debut in America. She toured many major cities with her large harpsichords. She also taught music at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

History brought many changes to her life and career. During World War I, she was held in a camp because she was a foreign national. In 1919, her husband died in a car accident. Later, when the German Army invaded France, she had to flee. She left her home in Saint-Leu with only two suitcases. She traveled to the United States and arrived in New York on December 7, 1941.

This was the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor. She arrived with almost no belongings because her home had been looted. She eventually settled in Lakeville, Connecticut, in 1949.

Even after moving, Wanda continued to make music for the world. She recorded many famous pieces by composers like Bach, Scarlatti, and Handel. She also wrote books about old music. Her partner, Denise Restout, helped edit and translate her writings. Wanda's work helped people realize that old instruments still had much to say. She was a pioneer who bridged the gap between old and new music. She lived until 1959 and left a great legacy behind. Her performances made the harpsichord feel fresh and exciting again.